My version of the "Ultimate Blind"

The beginnings of my new deer blind

5'x 8'
2.5" square tubing and angle iron base, with 1" square tubing wall frames

a buddy and I are actually building two of them at the same time. One for me and one for him. so thats why there are some many side wall frames laying against the fence

Looking good

Sweet. It is nice to get them finished. What are you using fir windows, door, and exterior siding?

Deerview windows are very nice in a build like this.

That base ought to be plenty stout - looking good!

the openings on the windows are made for DeerView 11.5"x 36" sliders. All the tubing will be powder coated black when completely finished.

As for the siding, I am still undecided. I really want to use Hardi board, but that stuff is heavy and a little tougher to work with than just regular ply wood. I am still exploring options

To make the frame that stout and then put plywood on it seems like a waste. R panel would be my choice!

edited for spelling

Agree...with that steel, you will have rotten plywood in a couple years and the steel will need refaced. I would do it right the first time and save the hassle later. You won't regret it long term (maybe in the short term)...hardiboard or some variant would be the best option for durability, but def get something more stout than plywood.

thats why I havent made a decision yet. One of my goals is to keep the blind somewhat easy to break down and move if need be. The base is a toad for sure but the walls i dont want to make so heavy they cant be unbolted and moved

Does anyone have example in the form of pics for what they are using for the walls?

We make our walls out of hardi board comes in 4x8 sheets and is great stuff.

If this is going to be a ground blind I would figure a way to build in fork spots for a pallet fork and you can move it with a tractor without taking it apart. I intend our next blind to be that way.

Just go with tin for sides.

I am going to try this on my next build.
Mossy Oak Panels

x2

You will never have to replace it and it is much lighter than wood or hardi board. Mine are tin skinned, the oldest has been out 8 years and looks like the day I put it out except for the paint fading slightly.

Got the DeerView Sliders in the mail. One more thing I can check off the list!!!

Look forward to seeing the finished product

You are the owner of DeerView correct?

Good Choice Deerview windows are great and Tyler is a pleasure to do business with.

Yes sir..

Thank you Heather

Looking good

I used 24 Gauge sheetmetal. Gave $16 a sheet. I would use that and have the whole thing powdercoated

looks good

you actually were dealing with one of my buddies on the window. his name is David

Here a couple updated pics



my son getting on the action

Looks like your son lost interest by that last picture. My girls are really interested in my projects... for a little while.

Your blind is coming together nicely!

He usually has to be in the middle of everything I do. which is okay, thats how I learned how to many things myself. thank you for the kind words

Starting to look good.

Good looking blind. Built one similar 2 years ago, it got really heavy after I installed the floor and walls. Used 7/8 plywood for floors and 3/8 plywood on the walls.

Hadnt had much time lately to work on this thing until a week or so ago. Finally got all the panels fit and bolted together properly. Now its time for blasting and powdercoating. then skin it with some plywood and break it all back down for transport to the lease. More pics to follow

here are the clips that bolt the sides together. simple design

Very nice. Gonna be heavy!

You would be surprised how the weight compares to a wood built blind.

The only thing that is heavy heavy is the overbuilt base. The walls are light

Looking good!!!

Where do you buy these type clips? Are you using self tapping screws to secure?

A buddy made the clips at his shop. we are building two of these stands and he has a metal fab shop at his disposal. they are basically just flat steel just bent on a 90 with holes drilled in them. extremely simple design. The screws have a technical name that I cant remember. they are not self tapping but they do form their own threads when you screw them in after the pilot hole is drilled

They are thread forming screws. You start with a 7/32 pilot hole and when you screw them I'm it threads it to a 1/4x20 bolt

Looks good.

Hey them thinks look awfull familar!

The clips are just 12ga galvinized sheet metal. I made a long strip and wrote a program on my AMADA punch press to punch the holes in them and knock them off to length. Them took them to the break press and bent them up. The screws are thread formers for the reason the TEK(self tappers) are really only designed for one use. After you put them in and take them out the hole starts to trash out. With thte thread formers you can put them and and take them out all you want since the thread like a tap would.

The base of these guys got a little "over built" due to 2-1/2" tube is what I had laying around on the yard. Got a heck of a deal on it since anything under 10 foot is scrap to us here at work. They weigh in at about 330# by so not to terribly heavy but heavy enough.

Im throwing aroud the idea of using some .063 aluminum i have laying here from a job a few years ago to skin mine out....but that will be awfull hot in the summer and pretty cold in the winter without insulation in it.

Can you buy these thread formers at home depot or maybe at the local hardware store?

Ya you should be able to. Odds are anyone working at home depot wont have a clue what your talking about so you will have to dig around and find them. Probably find them at the mom and pop type store easier, or if you have a fastner store local.

How do you keep the blind from squeaking? Seems like there's a lot of potential metal-on-metal movement.

Looks great though.

I dont see anything moving. The wall sections are all bolted down to the base and then bolted together in 3 spots up the side and then the roof frame ties the top all together. Plus i will probably put some gasket between everything to minimaze the use of caulk.

I have built one of these very simpilar and but wasnt as well bolted as this one will be. I never had any odd noises or squeaks. I have been in some wooden stands that were very squeaky and loud.

This is going to be very sturdy and shouldnt move at all with the base that we have put under it. To me if the base is solid it just make the rest of it that much better also

I do have some blinds at my boss' ranch that are built from formed aluminum interlocking panels and we learned real quick that that wasnt a great idea. As they heat up they pop a little. On the otherhand the deer dont mind it one bit. They dont have a lot of pressure there and are used to people being around so for the most part they dont spoke to terrible easy.

I only asked the question as I know that over time, things loosen and slight movements either inside or from things like wind can cause squeaks, etc.

I have a couple of metal stands that are all-welded and pretty quiet, unless I make the noise. Just curious about the different assembly (bolted vs. welded).

I see what your saying. But with how well built the base of this is and everything tying together at top bottom and middle I dont seeing anything loosing up on me. May get a few creaks here and there but with the wind blowing and trees making noise im not to sure it would be noticable. This should only be a problem with one of these blinds and that will be mine, Its going to be about 12' in the air at the floor when finished.

I'm sure they'll serve you well. Good luck this season!

The reason the blind is bolted insteaded of welded is so that it can be transported in panels. floor, 4 walls and the roof.

No, I understand that perfectly. No worries. Good luck!

great jr firefighter for the helper!

Yeah he is a pretty good help! He loves to work with me on everything

UPDATE:

Right now the both of our (RustyR and myself) blind frames are being sandblasted, zinc coated and powder coated black. Cant wait to get them back and bolt this thing back up. Next step will be to skin this beast

You and me both. These have taken way to long to get done with all the other crap we've had to do. Im sure ill talk to my powder guy today and ill give you an update.

Well its offical. I have thrown ply wood out the window for skining one of these out. I found some 1/16" alluminum from an old job we had here at work and it worked out to be exactly what I needed to skin out one blind and form in to interloking panel to do the roof for both mine and Hill country's blinds. Now if i can just get rid of the wood on the floor.....

Looks good..

Never have to worry about a warping door that wont close... I swear every wasp in the county has invaded mine because of that.

Hopefully this weekend we will make these things look like blinds instead of skeletons. ready to get off work and get after these things!

Here is a few pics from yesterdays progress

And a few from friday night and saturdays progress as well

house!

i got the roof assembled and put on yesterday. RustyR and I were hoping to be able to makea little larger roof but with the FREE material we had, this is what we came up with. Can complain. Still got to finish painting the outside of the darker green, then the inside black

You could always go work on mine while I'm up here in Ohio if you need something to do. I won't mind

Nice stand!

Well its almost done. i still have some corner caps to put on it, several more screws to put in, carpet and some flashing or drip edge stuff to put over the windows and door. Here it is as of today

Very nice

How are you covering the seams between the metal?

I'm not sure I understand your question.


I am covering the seam on the corners with 2.5"x2.5" corner cap. Does that help?

well here it is, all finished and set up.

could help but post this of my son helping me bolt the floor down.

I wish I would have had time to paint the corner caps, but I just ran out of time.

Looks great! You can always paint the corners next time you are out there. Great job.

Did you pitch the roof or is it flat?

The roof has 2" of slope. Comes out to a little over 3/8" per foot.

As stated above, the blind does have a slight pitch to it.


Thank you all for the kind words!

Awesome build!!! What did you use for the cornet caps? Is it just steel drip edge flashing?

RustyR can give an more technical description of the exact material. But it was just galvanized metal bent to a 90 degree angle. not sure on the thickness

The corner trim is 18ga G90 material. Sheard to lenght and bent on a brake.

I cant wait to get out in the woods next weekend and see how she sits.......

I got to hunt my new blind opening weekend and boy it sure was nice a roomy!!!!

I couldn't be happier with final product. I added a shelf across the front which made it nice. More interior modifications/features to come

What would you estimate the weight to be ? Great blind ought to last a long time.

Estimated weight for the base frame and wall frames unsheated is probably about 500 pounds. I don't remember the weight on the tube per the foot or how much tube a blind used. If you'd like I could look in my book when I get back to work and give a more accurate weight

This is awesome!!!!

Every time I hunt in this blind, I love it even more!!! So glad I built this the way I did